Splits in the Dark
by FlamesOfHestia
Summary: Percy is taken to Tartarus by a VERY OOC Zeus, who has gone crazy after Zeus/Jupiter headaches. He is tortured to try and gain information from Artemis and Apollo about the location of the master bolt. Little does he know, there are people out there who won't let Percy be lost for more than a second. Rated T for graphic torture and sexual references. Solangelo and Percabeth
1. Lost

**A/N: Here's a new story for y'all, except not that happy. This fic contains graphic torture, sexual references, and many triggers for anxiety/PTSD so please don't give yourself a flashback/panic attack by reading this! On the other hand, in my twisted mind, here is the first chapter of this story! I have written out a plotline and summaries for all the chapters, so I'm sure it won't become one of those abandoned stories we all see too many of.**

**DISCLAIMER - I do not own the Percy Jackson series or any of the characters in this fanfiction.**

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The first thing Percy heard was the grinding of metal against metal.

The sound tore through his stupor like a hellhound was being torn apart, limb by limb. The screeching, burning _confusing_ noise broke him out of mindless sleep, and his body felt heavy and worn. He tried and failed miserably to lift his head, with eyes still glued shut.

Then he remembered.

The dark. Stepping out of his cabin into the middle of the night. The shadows, the shadow _men_. The chasm. Falling, falling, into the dark, only this time without Annabeth. Falling, dying, then black.

He felt sharp chains bound around his wrists. His shoulders were aching and strained, and his fingers were stiff. His clothes were ripped off, with a few shreds of t-shirt hanging from his belt, and only a pair of shorts beneath his bare, freezing chest. His legs felt like lead weights.

Above all was the stench. Like rotting corpses mixed with monster ash and the yellow pus where monsters reformed in Tartarus.

Slowly, painstakingly, Percy peeled his eyes open.

The room was dark. Two shady, slumped figures hung on the wall opposite, near a derelict metal door. The only light came from a fading and flickering bulb that hung from a single wire in the ceiling, and the chains holding the other captives were rusty and jagged. The floor was covered in dried blood. Percy choked back the bile rising in his throat.

One of the figures lifted his head slowly, and Percy froze mid-breath.

"Well well, if is isn't Perseus Jackson. What brings you here, son of Poseidon?" The figure laughed hauntingly.

"Apollo, shut up." This voice came from the other figure, whose head stayed low.

"Don't mind me, little sis. Just welcoming our new inmate."

Percy struggled to form two and two in his mind. Speaking was even harder, and when his voice came out, it was a cracked whisper.

"L-Lord Ap-p-pollo? Lady Art-t-mis?"

"Still polite, even when you're chained to a wall." Artemis looked up. "What a mess you are, young demigod."

A drop of blood trickled from the corner of Percy's mouth. He shuffled so his feet just touched the floor. "Where are we?"

Apollo's voice turned grave.

"Percy, you're back in Tartarus."

Percy's stomach fell through the floor.

Artemis continued, "This is the deepest, darkest place outside of the palace of Night. It can only be found when you know exactly where it is. Kronos and his allies have used it for centuries, to extract information concerning his enemies in the mortal world, and hold those trying to stop him from reforming."

Percy tried to form a coherent thought. "Kronos can't have reformed by now, can he?" To be honest, nothing was out of the question at this point, considering the existence of a room in Tartarus than could only be accessed by those who knew about it.

"No, my boy," said Apollo. "This is worse than Kronos."

Percy was about to protest - what, inside of Tartarus, could be worse than Kronos? - when an ear-wrenching crash broke through the wall opposite.

His breathing intensified, and he was panicking now, his eyes wide. "What the Hades was that?" he said desperately.

Before either god could answer, the door was flung open. Behind stood a wasting and haggard Zeus - wait, Jupiter? His form flickered between the two like a glitch in a computer game. On one side, a derelict Greek philosopher with tattered and shredded robes and hair that looked like it had been half torn out - on the other, a war-crazed Roman aristocrat with bared teeth. The two forms shared only one physical feature. They both had hollow, sunken, purple eyes that looked like they hadn't seen the sun in decades.

"You will not speak. You will not shout or scream or make any sort of noise, save if it is to tell me WHERE YOU HID MY BOLT!" The figure addressed Apollo in a manic wail.

"I don't know, I told you!" Apollo's voice was desperate. The glitching Zeus' jaw curled, and he slammed his fist into Percy's chest. He whispered softly.

"Your cousin lies. He will tell me, and you will help him." He pulled out a knife. It was an angry, cruel blade, with jagged edges that reflected the dull light from the bulb in the ceiling. He spoke to the twins, but staring Percy directly in the eyes. "If you do not tell me, I will tear this demigod apart hour by long, slow hour. For starters," he brushed Percy's hair out of his eyes, "we will give you a taste of what I can do."

He put the knife to Percy's upper arm, and drew a cruel, agonising slash down his bicep.

"STOP, JUST STOP THIS!" Artemis screamed.

Percy closed his eyes in dread. The pain of one scar was almost unbearable, like Zeus had poisoned the blade with gorgon's blood or shadows, like Nico's sword.

Zeus pulled the blade out of Percy's arm and turned to face Artemis. "I told you, NO SPEAKING! That'll have to be punished..."

He turned back to Percy with a sadistic glare, and in less than a second, thrust the knife into Percy's shoulder. He screamed in agony. Zeus wrenched out the knife and threw it to the floor. He then picked up a bucket of water from the corner, and threw it over Percy.

"We'll continue this tomorrow." He stalked out, flashing between Jupiter and Zeus and laughing manically.

The water was cool, but not enough to heal the chasm in Percy's shoulder. He closed his eyes and started to sob. He was lost, in a forgotten part of Tartarus, in agony and with no hope. No Annabeth...

A haunting melody in Ancient Greek reached his ears. It ran through his veins, filling him with sorrow and healing, a strange mix of feelings. He opened his eyes. Apollo was singing, a beautiful, crying song, fixing his shoulder and swarming the room with a flicker of hope. In defeat and exhaustion, Percy drifted off into a blissful oblivion.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! I know I'm horrible. Please review so I can see where to improve as time goes on, and I should have the next chapter out within a week.**

**Also, go check out my other stories on my author page!**

**~FlamesOfHestia**


	2. Hopeless

**A/N: Hello all! Thanks for the huge amount of support for the first chapter, it really motivates me to write more! Here is the second chapter - the plan is for all chapters to alternate between the Tartarus cell and this POV (even though it's still in third person). The chapters themselves are a little shorter than what you might expect, but it means I can update quicker and my train of thought is more concise. I hope you like this!**

**I forgot to mention that this takes place after BoO, and Leo is not back (sorry, Leo lovers). And Phoebe is not dead in this fic - because I needed a Hunter.**

**Also - SOLANGELO! :)**

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*CAMP HALF-BLOOD*

Nico and Will walked hand in hand up to the canoe lake, where they knew they would find Annabeth. She had spent most of the last three days there. Taking quiet steps, so as not to alarm her, they emerged from the forest to see a blond-haired girl staring out blankly across the water, her fingers scraping at the dirt and leaves on the ground.

"Annabeth," Will murmured softly. "Come back into camp, please, it's nearly dinner."

Annabeth stayed staring out into the distance. Her voice was hollow and lost. "Three days. He's nowhere to be seen. No-one knows anything about where he was, where he's gone, or when he's coming back. This lake is the closest thing I have." She curled her knees up to her chest.

Nico looked at Will, who nodded. Not bearing to see Annabeth breaking down like the last time Percy disappeared, they sat down either side of her and put their arms around her shoulders, watching the surface if the lake ripple. She relaxed and held Nico's hand tightly. Her voice was shaking, this time, and barely a whisper. "What if h-he never comes back? What do I do?"

Nico rested his head on her shoulder and rubbed her back. "We'll go and find him. We'll tear down the last stone of Olympus before we let anything happen to him, you can be sure of that."

Annabeth smiled a little. "Thanks guys," she choked.

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As the three approached the diving pavilion, Chiron's distinct whistle rang behind them, and they spun round. The centaur's face was pale and his hooves shuffled nervously. Chiron was never nervous.

"We've been waiting for you three. Counselor's meeting. Now." His voice was uneasy.

Nico snatched a glance at Will, who shrugged, and they traipsed up to the Big House. When they got inside, six intimidating immortal girls stood in the centre of the meeting room, bows and quivers slung across their backs. Nico and Will sat down, but Annabeth turned to the Hunter in front.

"Phoebe, please, do you know where Percy is? Have you guys seen him - anywhere?"

Phoebe looked concerned. "Percy is missing? That makes three. We came here because we've lost Lady Artemis and Thalia. We hoped they'd turn up here, despite the camp's - ahem - drawbacks, but no such luck. I'm sorry, none of us have seen him."

Annabeth paled. She walked over to her chair shakily, and Phoebe took the chair for the Hunters. Percy's chair stood empty as a reminder of what was all too wrong.

She blanked out for most of the meeting. Phoebe talked about how Artemis and Thalia disappeared, and Chiron said something vaguely encouraging about where they could be, as Nico and Will debated with Clarisse and Phoebe about the best courses of action. Only Annabeth, the 'wise' one, could see what was going on. Eventually, she snapped.

"Don't any of you UNDERSTAND? They're not just GONE, why would they DISAPPEAR for no reason? They've been TAKEN, you MORONS! Why else would they just vanish?"

Phoebe was taken aback. "And I suppose you know who took them? And where they are, for that matter? Oh wait, you CAN'T POSSIBLY KNOW, because if you did you wouldn't be sat here blankly whilst everyone else works out a plan!" Her frustration came out in her voice.

Chiron called things to order. "First of all, Annabeth's right. They must have been taken. Secondly, Phoebe's also right." Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but Chiron cut her off. "No-one has a clue where they are. We haven't a hope of finding them. For all we know, they could be in the Underworld."

Annabeth shook her head blindly. "No," she whispered.

"We'll find them, Annabeth, don't worry," Will consoled.

"How? Camp Jupiter is in turmoil, and no-one knows why. Jason, Piper, Hazel and Frank are having enough trouble as it is. The Hunters will barely be able to hold their own without Artemis and Thalia. It's not like we'll ever be able to trace them - Percy left no clues, no note, no nothing, and from the sound of it neither did the other two."

With those words, they were interrupted by a powerful glow of light, forcing the demigods, on pain of death, to clamp their eyes shut.

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**A/N: Sorry for the length of this, but it was planned to be this short, and as I said before it means I can update quicker.**

**Please leave a review, and have some marshmallows for good measure :)**

**~FlamesOfHestia**


	3. Hurt

**A/N: Thanks so much for the readers so far, you are all incredible people and I love you all so much!**

**On a darker note, here is chapter 3. Welcome back to Tartarus.**

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Percy just wanted it to stop.

End, in death, or some lesser oblivion.

The pain of being tortured dragged him into a sharp sense of reality.

_My name is Perseus Jackson. I'm the son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson. Annabeth is my girlfriend. I'm seventeen years old. I am back in Tartarus..._

He went through the motions, trying to hold on to his sanity. All around him were screams. They tore through the darkness like fingernails on a blackboard and ripped into his head, burning his ears. Worst of all were the intelligible words from across the room. "STOP, PLEASE! STOP HURTING HIM, WE DON'T KNOW!" Their piercing desperation was utterly haunting. "PERCY'S JUST A KID, YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Zeus was hurting a kid called Percy.

_My name is Perseus Jackson. __I'm seventeen years old._

Those were his screams -

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Percy woke up shaking and spasming. A jolt of white-hot electricity coursed through his veins, burning his insides. Lightning struck, tickling his fingers, then slashing through his arm, shoulder, chest, into his organs, scarring them with bolts fresh from Zeus' fingertips. His sunken eyes rolled. He choked and coughed up a thin stream of bright red blood, sickly and vibrant.

Zeus roared. "You DARE, expulse that rotten venom from your body? How about this then," he snarled. He pulled out his knife - a cruel, eight-inch blade - and Percy shrank back into his chains, flinching at the memories of its uses. Zeus tapped it tauntingly on his blood-encrusted knuckles. He then sliced into the flesh around his fingertip, digging out the nail of his left index finger. Percy cried out helplessly. He gritted his teeth and, as the next nail was torn out, cried into the back of his mouth. Tears were pouring down his cheeks. More blood spurted out of his mouth as he convulsed with shock.

Percy caught eyes with Artemis as he groaned in dread. His eyes were pleading, hopeless, and she felt as useless as a broken bowstring with her wrists hanging limp from the wall. She had to do something.

"I-I-" she stuttered.

Zeus took his attention away from the broken half-blood to look at his abandoned daughter. "You want to say something, _child?_" he sneered.

"I know- I- There-" Her voice faltered, as she searched her brains for information she didn't know, some forgotten truth that could save this pitiful boy from his fate.

Apollo looked dumbfounded. Honestly, how naive and stupid could his sister get? "You think making up lies will help? How does saying ANYTHING help? Shut up, for Percy's sake. Just shut up." His tone was defeated and submissive, as Percy prepared himself for another onslaught of punishment.

Zeus turned back to him, fury boiling in his dark-rimmed eyes. He smiled sadistically and put his knife to Percy's chest, a little below his trachea. Percy drew breath and clenched his fists as Zeus drew a deep, permanent gash down to his stomach. Thick, hot blood poured from the wound. Zeus chucked his knife aside and curled his fist, then sent sparks once more through his hand, latching onto Percy's abdomen. His whole body shook and he rattled against his chains, crying out. The blinding light from the electricity caused Apollo and Artemis to squeeze their eyes shut. Percy groaned in recoil. His head lulled.

"Getting tired are we?" Zeus snarled. "Too bad you'll still be awake for this next one. Obviously the Hero of Olympus," Zeus made an infuriating mock bow, "isn't _quite_ enough to get these two to crack, so I will need another subject. Still, no point wasting a perfectly good demigod. I want to see your pain as you watch."

Zeus snapped his fingers and the door was flung open. Two hooded creatures dragged a limp body across the bloodstained floor, its feet catching and its hair matted and caked in dirt. They thrust it against the wall. Slowly and painstakingly, they locked its wrists to a set of chains next to Percy. Its hair was short and jet-black, but Percy could tell from the face that they had brought in a girl. She glowed a dull silver, like an aura.

Artemis' breath hitched in her throat. The girl had the glow of a Hunter. Yet she radiated something more powerful, a blessing stronger than that of a normal Hunter, mixed with a _very_ powerful demigod.

"Let's see if her lieutenant's suffering will get dear Artemis to crack."

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**A/N: Please leave a review, it only takes two seconds! Reviews means happy author, and happy author means faster updates. :)**

**Constructive criticism adored!**

**~FlamesOfHestia**


	4. AN

Hello readers,

I'm very sorry for not updating - I went on holiday then had exams of death. However chapter 4 will be up within the next 5 days or so, as it is currently being written. Also, I really don't like the name of this fic - any suggestions?

~FlamesOfHestia


	5. Resolve

**A/N: I know I said 5 days, but as promised, here is chapter four. It's a little crappy, as I'm not quite back into the swing of things yet. Again, I'm REALLY SORRY for the lack of updates. Love you all so much :)**

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*CAMP HALF-BLOOD*

As the demigods peeled their eyes open one by one, the light faded, and a tall, muscular figure in Bermuda shorts and a flowery shirt stepped forwards. They hastily scrambled to their feet in respect, but Poseidon waved them off and looked round with dull eyes.

He nodded to each of the half-bloods sat in a circle, and the Hunters one by one. When at last he reached Annabeth, she whispered in a voice that sounded a thousand years old.

"Percy."

Poseidon took her hand and pulled her up, and wrapped his arms around her protectively, and Annabeth rested her head on his shoulder and began to sob relentlessly. He rocked her slowly.

"I'm so sorry, child. Please believe me when I say I know how this feels." He shook his head. "We'll find him. We'll find Percy."

"H-h-he's g-g-g-g-one and n-no-one knows where and I c-can't do it!"

Poseidon hesitated for a second too long before opening his mouth. Annabeth looked up at him, then pulled away in disbelief.

"You know," she said without shaking. Poseidon's face showed no sign of denial. Her tears turned to rage in an instant. "You KNOW! HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN?! You think you can just PULL UP HERE and tell me everything's going to be okay when YOU KNOW WHERE PERCY IS! WHY ISN'T HE HERE NOW?!" Her fury cut through the silence like a knife. Poseidon turned to the window and stared out at the lake.

"I can't find him." Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her short. "And not that I don't know where he is, Annabeth, but that I can't get there. Have you ever heard of Anthesis? The Dark Room, perhaps? Or the House of the Lost? That place has many names." He turned back around, and Annabeth shook her head. "That's where Percy is. It's a place so veiled in Primordial curses that it can only be found when you know exactly where it is. That's why I can't find my son."

"And how," Annabeth said meticulously, "does that help me? Why is he even there in the first place? What aren't you telling us?"

"My dear brother thinks he took this." Poseidon pulled a long metal rod, sparking with raw power, from his pocket. It grew into a slender silver bolt with jagged edges that flickered like electricity.

"The master bolt", whispered Nico.

"Zeus has being going crazy recently," Poseidon continued. "It started when the headaches came back. About a month ago his form started shifting between his Greek and Roman forms, with no explanation. He just got angrier and more paranoid. Then two weeks ago he started taking his anger out on Camp Jupiter. The earthquakes, the storms, everything was caused by him. That's why your friends are having such a hard time keeping things in order. They're literally fighting the sky."

He cleared his throat, then started up again. "Three days ago, we took this." He turned the master bolt in his hands. "We thought it would stop, that all his power would be gone..."

Annabeth caught up. "But he thought it was Percy," she breathed.

"He's accused him before, why wouldn't it be him again? We thought that by taking the bolt we would regain power, or at least that his headaches would stop. We didn't count on his increasing paranoia. He took Artemis and Thalia, his own daughters." Phoebe drew breath through gritted teeth. "And he took Percy. He took my son down into the depths of Tartarus."

Annabeth let out a terrified squeak, and her eyes widened. Will picked up on her train of thought. "You didn't say it was in Tartarus..."

"Anthesis is the darkest place in Tartarus, bar the house of Night. As I said, you can only find it when you know where it is. I have no idea where it is. But you can trace it with the bolt. You know the deal - only demigods can enter other gods' realms, and Zeus has claimed Anthesis for himself. Thing is -" he turned to Annabeth, "are you sure you're ready to go back?"

Annabeth stood up, eyes burning. "Percy's in Tartarus without me. Thalia's gone there as well. No way is that OK by me. I'll find Anthesis or die trying."

Nico stood up as well. "I've been to Tartarus before. I can handle it." Poseidon nodded. Her then turned to Will.

Will, a little older than the others, sat staring at the floor. His blonde fringe fell loosely across his face. Slowly, he picked his eyes up.

"I'm going too," he said, almost defeated. "Rachel's not seeing prophecies any more. My healing skills are gone - I look at an injured kid and I see blood and bone and no way to fix it. I can't get prophecies either. And I feel like crap. Like the most pessimistic person you can imagine." Nico tensed, as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. "My dad's down there too, isn't he?"

Poseidon merely nodded. Will lifted his head in resolve.

Phoebe took up the string. "Three is the optimal number for a quest, I believe. We couldn't spare anyone anyway. Holding together is difficult enough when your leader and lieutenant are gone. Let's go see what we can do in New Rome." The hunters nodded in agreement.

Annabeth turned to her quest-partners, as Nico was pulling Will into a hug, cradling his head. "If we can't get a prophecy, we're going in blind."

"I'd rather be blind than dead," tossed back Nico.

Poseidon collapsed the bolt back into a metal rod, and handed it to Annabeth, who held it for a moment. All her earlier grief had turned to fiery grit and determination. Her stormy grey eyes burned with rage.

"Find my son. Please. You'll be able to trace Zeus' shadow-travelling signature to Anthesis with the bolt. Nico should understand how it works. Find your love. Find Will's father. Find Artemis and Thalia. Bring them back safe."

The three walked out of the Big House to a crack of light behind them. Once outside the camp's borders, they picked up the pace, broke into a run, and didn't look back once. They couldn't afford to waste a second.

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**A/N: Thankyou, beautiful people! I know this chapter was mostly exposition, but the next chapter I have planned is stormy and evil. Please have some marshmallows and leave a review!**

**~FlamesOfHestia**


	6. Resilience

**A/N: This is a triggery chapter. I feel like telling you the nature of these will spoil the effect of the chapter, so if you have no triggers then keep reading. For those who might be affected, the type of trigger is underneath the chapter. Scroll down to check :) Also language.**

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Thalia's head pounded. A hammer drummed on the inside of her skull in a march, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM. Her fingertips flickered as her instincts awoke. The memory of a brutal attack came back to her.

Guarding the camp.

Three against one.

Blacking out.

So she was captured, sure, but she felt strong. The girls would be fine without her for a couple of hours - or days? How long had she been out? Thalia tried to bring her hand to her face to find it was in chains, the rattling breaking the profound silence. As her vision came into focus, Thalia noticed three figures around her, all bound by their wrists: a girl next to a blonde-haired guy on one wall, and -

Kelp-Head.

She looked back to the other wall, and a deep silver glow that pulled her own was shining from the girl. She smiled, but Thalia's face washed over with confusion. Artemis. Gone for three days, then Thalia turns up in a room, bound to a wall, and she's just _there_.

Where was there?

As Percy and the guy she assumed to be Apollo woke up, their faces dropped. Thalia tried to speak but they just murmured to themselves in dread.

"Oh no, no, she's awake-"

"It'll be okay, Arty-"

Artemis looked Thalia dead in the eye. "Sleep. You have to sleep. Please. Just pretend."

Thalia shook her head, bewildered. "Why? Where are we?"

"Just sleep, for fuck's sake. He won't come back if you're awake, he'll leave you be," Percy spat.

"Why? Come back? Who?"

"Don't put yourself through what I got. I'm not too sure how long Artemis will last if he starts on you."

Artemis groaned. "I don't even know _why_ he thinks it's me. I haven't a clue where the blasted bolt is."

"What? Tell me! Who's 'he'-"

Zeus swung the door open, flanked by the two cronies who had brought her in. He flicked into Jupiter as his pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks and he hurled a knife at the wall, it landing four inches from Thalia's head.

He stared his half-blood daughter down as he snarled, "You're going to tell me, Artemis. I need that BOLT!" His voice grew to an earthquake.

Thalia shook desperately. "Stop, please! No of us know where your bolt is, Father, let us go!" she cried.

Jupi- Zeus paced over to her and ripped the knife out of the wall then dropped it with a resounding clatter. Water dripped off the ceiling splatting Thalia on the head. She shook again, not daring to let her eyes leave her captor's. Zeus turned to Artemis with a steely glare. "Obviously, watching the most powerful half-blood of this century being reduced to a squealing mess wasn't quite enough for your pathetic compassion to show, so I'm going to take something you'll never get back. Tell me, Artemis, or she gets it."

"Don't, even if you do know! You know I can take this, don't give in to him!" Thalia roared.

Zeus grinned with a row of yellowed, cracked teeth. "Oh, I don't intend to use conventional methods." He picked up the knife and slid it down the side of Thalia's trousers. She heard the camo fabric give a "rrrippp-" and her waistband slip down to her hips. "One thing she'll never get back..."

Apollo gasped from across the room, and Percy looked away. Thalia's eyes widened in dread. Her whispers of, "My lady, I'm so sorry," were drowned out by her lady's fury.

"You would DARE? Your own DAUGHTER! A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD! How could you even IMAGINE such a thing! I TAKE ON GIRLS TO PROTECT THEM FROM THIS! YOU SICK BASTARD!"

Zeus just smiled. He tore off Thalia's pants leaving her fully exposed, with a gash on her hip where he tore her trousers. Artemis closed her eyes, defeated, but Thalia still stared him down. She smiled back. As Zeus took in the confusion, she drew a freed ankle up to meet his groin, flicking her trousers back over her waist. Zeus recoiled in agony. His eyes started to burn with lightning. Thalia closed her eyes and drew away from the outside world, deep inside herself. After that, she could take any superficial pain her father decided to throw at her.

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**A/N from above: Rape. There is rape going on here.**

**Marshmallows to those who review - yay!**


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